Month: December 2020

THE WALL OF TUNES, EPISODE II:
FACEBOOK VS. THE GROOVEWONDEROUS WALL OF TUNES

“It is a dark time for the rebellion…”  Err…I mean…for anyone who confidently believes for one minute that the content they share on social media inherently belongs to them…

The question of whether or not such an open platform as Facebook, for example, is an appropriate, healthy, protected means for expressing one’s most personal thoughts and innermost feelings is a legitimate one, deserving of exploration – which I plan to do to no small degree right now as it pertains to my decision to create THE WALL OF TUNES.

First of all, Mark Zuckerberg is a skeevy, serpentine, amoral sociopath and Facebook’s dubious, ambiguous public policies regarding “fair use” of the intellectual property of their users is troubling, at best.  Knowing that the average user is generally either pretty trusting or numbed by ambivalence – at any rate, lacking the time and will to sift through the ultra-fine print of the voluminous Facebook user agreement – let’s just assume that we all surrender ownership of everything we post the very second we press “accept.”  Our pictures, stories, comments and reactions – everything – ultimately belongs to them as blood payment for the “free” service they provide.  However the lawyers the money behind Facebook frame things, the ultimate truth is that this practice is a hustle; an exploitation.  They are like mobsters who, rather than using information as leverage to extort money or “favors” from their “marks,” have been publicly discovered to be guilty of selling it off outright to corporate data farms and God knows what else. …And then those entities, in turn, without our express permission, use that information for their own financial benefit…  And on and on and on it goes.  It’s not just Facebook that does this (remember those tracking “cookies” online shops insert in your browsers…?), but that doesn’t make the practice any less sucky.  As we all should know by now, terms such as “right” and “wrong” are complete abstracts where the law is concerned.  The money makes sure of that.  

If I’m pouring the essence of my singular mental-spiritual stew into anything, I want reasonable assurance that my intellectual property is legally my own and no one else’s – until I EXPRESSLY SAY otherwise; common, acceptable exceptions being contractual payment for commissioned works, proper employment agreements, donations for charity, etc.

Moving forward…

For years, like so many of us, I have used Facebook like a public journal through which my alternately passionate and passing intimate thoughts and opinions about subjects ranging from family to music to politics are cathartically shared with “friends,” far and wide.  Of late, for reasons discussed in the diatribe contained in the preceding paragraphs and beyond, I’ve questioned whether social media was a suitable vehicle for this kind of elaborate self-expression.  …A forum for sharing a few proud family moments, pet pics and brief quips, sure, but – as anyone who has really known me would appreciate and understand – I’m not really a chit-chat kind of guy.  If interested at all, I almost always want to dig deeper, regardless of the subject…to the point of distraction.  If a conversation isn’t evolving beyond a congenial, unoffending passing of time, wherein neither participant is likely to walk away any the wiser, I often don’t feel that I have a lot to contribute and grow quiet.  Of course, there is also the possibility that whoever I’m chatting with will pay a mighty price for making the mistake of humoring my tendency to blather on endlessly about…whatever (…as you, my audience are now discovering), but I digress…

Sensing my growing dissatisfaction with Facebook and it’s innate inadequacies, THE WALL OF TUNES was conceived to serve as a new primary online outlet (dumping ground) for speaking in-depth about the subjects I’m passionate about, principally life and music, music and life.  Uninterested in playing the part of yet another heavily biased hipster-cool influencer masquerading as an all-knowing beacon of objective authority and professionalism in hopes of capturing the attention of the all-powerful corporate media gods (conglomerates), I’m just here to be me.  I have strong opinions about what qualifies as “good,” “bad,” and so delightfully weird it ascends to the level of sheer genius, but I’m not irrationally immovable and respect the fact that other people like what they like too.

Agree with me.  Disagree with me.  It’s all good.
Write a comment and start a conversation. 

Thanks for coming.  I hope to see you again soon!

Once upon a time (a few days ago), while still firmly devoted to the idea of developing a blog that covered just music, I intended to find a title that related in a very specific, personal manner to this subject that occupies the largest, most favored territory in my pop-culture nerdom.

The Wall of Tunes was always going to be my first choice.

At home, The Wall of Tunes is the formal name given to the out-of-control music collection that occupies 3/4 of one “office” room wall, the main offender, stuffed almost beyond carrying capacity, being the four-foot wide, nearly floor-to-ceiling cd shelf.  The term was originally coined by The Kid many years ago when she was still a just a wee little person.  She made a sign and everything.  It was perfect.  The Mayor, ever the nurturer, graciously humored her man-child hubby’s desire to rescue our music from certain doom in a cold, damp Michigan dungeon and signed off on this reallocation of space to house the music collection.  To this day, I wonder if she fully understood what she was getting into…

Ready to get things started, I began to research the availability of my desired moniker and, sure enough, found that “Wall of Tunes” belonged to an obscure record label based in India. INDIA!!!  They have a Facebook page and everything (many LOUD NOISES)! Awesome. Now what? 

Soooo…

Now desperate for inspiration, further research was done, the court of public opinion was consulted and alternatives were considered; resources ranging from scholarly to completely random.  At one point the term “forte” – used in musical notation to indicate “loud or strong” – struck a chord (pardon the pun) because…well…I tend to like things loud….  However, harboring no illusions that mere ownership of a drum set that I play with all the skill and refinement of a coked-out baboon with ADD makes me a proper musician, this choice seems false.  Seriously, though… My playing isn’t THAT bad, but I’d have to be more knowledgeable about the writing and actual playing of the music to be entitled to the use of such an academic term.

No, something more befitting a devoted fanboy collector is in order.

Hmmmmmmmmm.  What about something completely random like “Ostrich Genitals” or “Underwater Necromancy?”

…Or I could cop my title from a favorite song title? The Flaming Lips always had some great songs like “Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles.” Meh. Kind of long.  Plus, the novelty would only qualify as “original” to folks who aren’t familiar with the song. 

What about something straightforward and literal such as “Vinyl, Plastics & Magnetic Tape?”  Sounds ok, but I can’t get past the redundancy (vinyl IS a plastic).

Names that featured plays on my name were floated, but this won’t do…  Surely, I can find a more imaginative way to brand than the man I refer to as “The Orange Cancer.”

 “Get Off My Lawn?”  I mean… Most of the stuff I’d be talking about would be considered “gramps” music at this point… No.

“Spleen?” Yeeessh! …Sounds like the name of a 90’s grunge clone band.  Negative.

Ahhh, well. SOMETHING else would have come, but my creative process is like that of Dr. House: A LOT of time and many tragic turns might occur before a satisfactory solution pops loose. No thank you.

(Blowing a raspberry). It’s settled then. My first choice it is.

I like “THE WALL OF TUNES.” It’s personal, it’s right and it’s MINE, precious.

Greetings and salutations! Welcome to THE WALL OF TUNES!

Stay tuned!